Kelly has wowed fans and pundits in his first five pro fights – with a sixth round stoppage tonight at the York Hall in Bethnal Green the fourth KO win to date, underlining his huge potential for title fights in 2018.

The Sunderland ace has been a revelation since joining the paid ranks in April and has raced into title contention at Welterweight under the tutelage of Adam Booth.

“I’m thrilled to sign this deal with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom,” said Kelly. “Adam and Eddie have got big plans for me and with them and the backing of Sky Sports, I’m so excited about the future.

“That was another important learning fight for me tonight. He was meant to really test me but once I tagged him early, he didn’t really want to know. I stayed patient, listened to Adam and got him out of there.

“I’ll go down any path that Adam and Eddie lead me to – I trust them both 100 per cent to really take me to the top. I hope that I can fight for the British title in the first half of the year and take it from there.”

“We have huge plans for Josh in 2018 and we’re going to hit the ground running early,” said Hearn. “I believe Josh is the complete package and is the man to take huge fights to the North East.

“Adam and the team will call the shots but I know they are already talking about big named fighters already – that means it’s an exciting time for Josh and for fight fans up in the North East.”